Marketing, advertising & media intelligence

Every man and his dog is trying to get a piece of the rugby pie at the moment, some officially, some not so officially. Barkers is the official formalwear supplier to the All Blacks, and to leverage its sponsorship it's just launched the 'Not Any' campaign. But wait, there's more: Barkers has also been named as the only New Zealand finalist in the Australasian Online Retail Industry Awards (ORIAs), the only awards in Australasia that recognises and rewards excellence in ecommerce retailing. The newspaper, online and window-display campaign, which features All Blacks Conrad Smith, Israel Dagg and Liam Messam doing their best impressions of smouldering, awfully serious male models, was created by Auckland graphic foundry Switch and Bullseye Media. It follows on from the Ted Commandments campaign, which featured All Black coach Graham Henry doing his best impression of a smouldering, awfully serious male model and was launched during the Tri-nations.

As for the digital accolades, www.barkersonline.co.nz has worked with ecommerce specialists Solutionists since 2007 to deliver and enhance their website, and it will be up against five Australian companies, including Dick Smith, in the Best Multichannel Retailer category at the ORIAs.

“Online customers expect to interact with a physical branch and the online store in the same way," says James Gilbert of Solutionists. "Loyalty status, promotions, stock availability all need to be integrated seamlessly across all outlets. Integrating the webstore with the retailer’s point of sale software provides the ideal customer experience with no extra work for the retailer.”

“The website has consistently performed above expectations for us at Barkers," says Barkers online manager Duncan Greive. "We have experienced four consecutive years of sales growth, to the point where the website turns over enough to match a medium-sized retail store. On our periodic VIP days, when our company can do a phenomenal amount of trade in 24 hours, the website is often the top performing store in our arsenal. Visits are up five percent over the previous year, and we have increased our average transaction value by 21 percent in a climate when many retailers are struggling to hold in this area.”

If we find you doing these things, your comments will be edited without recourse and you may be asked to go away and reconsider your actions.
We respect the right to free speech and anonymous comments. Don’t abuse the privilege.

On Monday, Whittaker’s launched its latest novelty chocolate-lolly mash up with a chocolatey answer to retro bakesale treat coconut ice. The Coconut Ice Surprise chocolate has a twist though, 20c from each block goes to Plunket – a charity which New Zealanders agree is a worthy cause. However, to relate the chocolate to the charity, Whittaker's has built the campaign around baby gender reveal parties, causing a backlash from the public who argue gender norms have expanded beyond blue for boys and pink for girls.

Genius From Elsewhere

1

With over 10,000 fires occuring in South Korea residential homes every year, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has created a flower vase that doubles as a throwable fire extinguisher. The hope is it will raise awareness to the public safety issue of home fire safety.

2

Advertisers have stopped buying ads on YouTube after their ads appeared on children's videos where pedophiles had infiltrated the comment section.The New York Times investigates the comments.

3

The internet has been up in arms about a supposed 'Anti-LGBT' emoji, featuring a rainbow flag alongside the "no" symbol. However, according to Time, the emoji causing offence is actually "an unfortunate implementation of the standards that govern how text is displayed on our device".

4

This year, Super Bowl audiences were treated to a 45-second video of Andy Warhol eating a Burger King Whopper. It was certainly a campaign unlike any before, but did it work? Adweek takes a look.

5

As of 1 March, Queenslanders will be able to include one of five emojis alongside their licence places. The options—the laughing-crying face, the winking face, the sunglasses face, the heart-eyed face, or the classic smiley face—are courtesy of Personalised Plates Queensland.

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Why we like it: Infomercial-style ads take us right back to the glorious days of old when we were sick – but not too sick – home from school and got the sought-after opportunity to watch daytime TV. There was literally nothing greater in an eight-year-old's life. So for that reason, these ads get a big tick from us. There's humour, and, despite what often happens when radio hosts venture into a visual format, it doesn't miss the mark.

Who's it for: House of Travel by the in-house team

Why we like it: Who doesn't love when brands bring back a break-out star from one of their earlier campaigns? To be completely honest, we didn't recognise Lucy on first glance, but after a quick trip down memory lane, we placed her as Miss Lucy from that singing and dancing retro campaign House of Travel launched more than a decade ago. We like the continuity of this ad and watching a man choke on his drink after a snapback from a woman doesn't hurt either.

Who's it for: Joblist by Badger Communications

Why we like it: Sonia is a dead-set hero. We are introduced to her glamorous, visor-wearing face peering out from behind a freshly-levelled hedge and the next thing we know she's no ordinary arborist. We watch Sonia as she looks into that shrub's soul and reveals the schnauzer-shaped masterpiece of her own creation. We never knew we needed someone with Sonia's skill set in our lives, but now we know we do. Thank you Sonia for showing us the light.